Apparatus for drying clay bodies



Patented Sept. 26, i922.

narran arras PATENT EL'WOOD B. AYRES, 0F PHILADELPHIA, ENNSYLVN, ASSIGNOR TO YROCTOR. la SCHWARTZ, INCORPORATED, OF IHliLADELPH, PENNSYLVANA, 1. CORPRA.-

TON F PENNSYLVANIA.

MPAIBATUS FOR DR'YING CLAY BOIDES.

Application filed June lfll.l Serial No. 385,563.

ments 1n apparatus for drying clay bodies,

1o particularly those of a delicate nature priorto their insertion in a kiln.

The object ofthe invention is to provide means for protecting the clay article as it is being dried and to improve its quality and f to prevent, to a certain extent, discoloration,

cracking and warping.

These objects I attain in the following manner, reference being had to the accom panying drawings, in which:

Fig. Ilis a sectional-view of ak tray of a drying machine, illustrating my improvement;

Fig. used in connection with the tray to enclose the article to be dried;

. Fig. 3 is a sectional "modificationg and Fig. 4C isa perspective view illustrating a cover arranged to enclose a number of view illustrating a Y3o articles.

My invention is based on the application for patent filed by Joseph L. Buckley' on 4 the twenty-sixth day of May, i920, under Serial No. 384,427.

The primary object of my invention is to substitute a cloth, or felt, covering for the cover section of plaster Paris, or equivalent described i'n the above application.

The invention can be used with any of the ordinary trays,I or it can be used in connection with a drying apparatus im which the trays, are carried by an endless conve 7er. v

eferring to the drawings, 1 is a tray, in

e5 the present instance,'having side members Z suspended from a pivot pin 3 of a conveyor, not shown. The tray is preferably perforated, as illustrated in Fig. l, and. mounted on the tray isa-plaster Paris mold 4 on which 5o the clay article has' been `termed, as shown in Fig,,1, th`e clay ar'ticle, in the present inil is a Vperspective View of the coverA stance, being a plate. 6 is?y a 'ring made of sheet metal`,'in the present instance, and having a series oi perorations 7 near its edge. rThis is preferably of such a size as to have a comparatively neat fit around the mold 4. ln some/cases, packing may be provided-between the mold and the sheet metal ring. 'Secured to the upper surface of the ring is a cover 8 o-' cloth, which is fastened to the ring by a wire band 9, the

sheet metal ring preferablyv being recessedl at the upper edge to receive this band.

In Fig. 3, l have illustrated a modifica tion in which heavy felt 8n is used instead of the cloth of Fig. 1. The ring 6 is made vwith a iiange 1Q and the felt isclamped to this lflange by an angle iron l1 riveted to the main ring 6, as shown.

ln Fig. l, the casing consists ci the ring, and the cloth section isiiesigned to cover a single article, but the casing may be made as shown in Fig. 4, to cover a number oi articles, if tound desirable. A rectangular frame 6" of metal, or other ,suitable material, is provided and the cloth, or telt, cover is stretched over thisl frame and is sebured thereto in any. suitable manner.

l find that when the article and the mold on which the article is formed are placed on a tray without any covering means, the article is liable to crack and warp and to discolor. Furthermore, dirt is apt to settle on the damp article. By the use of the cloth covering, i prevent dirt settling on the article and also prevent to a eertaiii extent, the cracking and warping of the article, the result being that ii better article is produced than where it is not enclosed.

Where felt is used, or aheavy cloth, it

has a tendency to draw moisture away from ing clay bodies, of a tray for holding a mold a d the body, Which-is formed there on; and a casing mounted on the tray and titi enclofsing' the nml" sind msmg ha med iks-mon: :1 ring n.15; Y, 1l clay body? mi n co'h bmus maei'ia loc .um to the zapper portion vf the 1U to 'H19 body being f. 

